On the topic of “Working with Braille,” we have an interesting article for you today from “Sichtweisen” (Perspectives), the magazine of the German Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Mike Dallmann shares some insights into his professional work with Braille at dzb lesen and how it has changed over the years.
Many thanks to the Sichtweisen team and especially to Mike Dallmann for allowing us to present the text in English.
You can find the original German article here
Learning Braille is worthwhile
An employee of the German Center for Accessible Reading talks about learning, punching, and proofreading.
My name is Mike Dallmann, I am 60 years old, blind since later in life, and have been working at the German Center for Accessible Reading (dzb lesen), formerly the German Central Library for the Blind in Leipzig (DZB), since 1990. I first came into contact with Braille in the fall of 1979. At that time, I was visually impaired and attending the tenth grade at the school for the visually impaired in Leipzig. I learned full Braille and later contracted Braille in a course here in Leipzig. It was pretty intense: after school, I went to swimming lessons and then at 4:30 p.m. I went to learn Braille! And I could still see reasonably well!
After finishing school in the summer of 1980, I went to the “Dr. Salvador Allende” rehabilitation center in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) for a course in elementary rehabilitation, which today would correspond to practical life skills. There, in addition to typing, White cane skills, and much more, Braille was also taught and learned. For us young people with visual impairments, the temptation was great to read the dots with our eyes instead of our fingers, which was of course frowned upon.
Helpful Braille notes
In 1981, I began training as a skilled typist in Karl-Marx-Stadt. Braille once again played an important role for me (alongside Braille shorthand as part of the training). Thankfully, I had already taken notes in Braille in the various subjects, which helped me greatly in the following years, as I lost my sight during my training. This meant I was able to read the notes I had taken.
After my Training, now blind, I worked for a good five years in a state-owned company in the GDR [Eastern Germany], where Braille shorthand played no role, as the paperwork was recorded on audio media.
In 1990, I moved to the DZB, now known as dzb lesen. I initially worked there as a telephone operator and, from 1998, in the Braille department, which is now called BGE (Braille, Large Print, E-Book). There, I first converted books from old to new contracted Braille and, in 2000, took on the position of puncher. Punching, derived from punching, refers to the embossing of Braille onto zinc plates or plastic films. These are used as matrices, i.e., templates for reproduction, for the production of magazines or books. I really enjoyed this work. It is independent, autonomous work, and knowledge of Braille is essential for performing the tasks. For example, the punching shop is the last opportunity to correct any errors that may have occurred in the text. Unfortunately, this activity is becoming less and less common.
Challenges of proofreading
In addition to voice output, the Braille display is an important aid in my work. In the 2000s and 2010s, far more magazines and books were embossed than today. In addition to embossing, I also took on proofreading, first of full-text books and then also of braille books. This means that you sometimes get to work with exciting and informative books, and sometimes with less interesting ones.
In my opinion, the challenge of proofreading is not to focus primarily on the text, but to pay attention to the correct spelling, the correct use of abbreviations or hyphenation, tables of contents that match the text, the prescribed paragraphs and indentations, and much more. All of this must be done with full concentration over several hours. It may also be necessary to distinguish between old and new contracted Braille or old and new spelling[german spelling got an overhaul roughly 30 years ago], and, for some time now, between representations from the digital world in Braille.
In my private life, I use Braille just like any other user: reading a good book, labeling objects, working on my home PC.
Braille everywhere: at work and in leisure time, music and chess
Braille makes a lot of things possible: at school, in higher education, at work and in leisure time – in all kinds of areas, including music and chess.
I think it’s a shame that fewer and fewer people are reading with their fingers on paper, audio CDs instead of Braille books, the internet instead of magazines. Everything has its place, times are changing, and producing a book or magazine takes time, so other media are faster and therefore more up-to-date. But when the power goes out, there’s no information! Of course, Braille is not perfect and especially german contracted Braille has some peculiarities, with ‘vornehm’ and “vornherein” you only read what is meant in the middle of the word, and so on.
I would like to see every blind person, including those who have lost their sight later in life, learn at least grade 1 braille. It’s worth it!
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